Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss at J.C. Penney

But will shareholders get fooled again? If you feel lucky about the beleaguered retailer, buy the bonds, not the stock.

The sharpest title of a research note of the year comes from Carol Levenson, who heads the independent corporate-bond analysis outfit, Gimme Credit. The name's allusion to the classic Rolling Stones song, "Gimme Shelter," gives you an idea of her sensibilities.

And so, I blatantly appropriate her incredibly apt description of the ouster of Ron Johnson as chief executive of J.C. Penney (ticker: JCP) and the succession plan that replaces him with his predecessor, Myron E. Ullman 3d. Referring to another great...